Amended B-BBEE Codes 2019: All you need to know

Amended B-BBEE Codes 2019: All you need to know

In May of this year, the government gazetted changes to the B-BBEE Codes. As B-BBEE can be complicated territory for companies to navigate, we thought we’d give you a simple rundown of the changes to the Skills Development category, how they might affect your business, and how we’ve updated some of our courses to give your company the maximum number of points.

B-BBEE terms explained

Before we get into the amendments, let’s first look at the meaning of some common terms that often pop up when talking about B-BBEE:

• Expenditure: The amount of money spent on skills development.
• Leviable amount: The total amount of remuneration payable by employers to their employees.
• Weighting points: The maximum number of B-BBEE Scorecard points a company can earn for a particular element.
• Compliance target: The percentage of the leviable amount spent on skills development.

B-BBEE Scorecard changes

Here are the key highlights of the B-BBEE Codes amendments:

1. Skills development expenditure on learning programmes specified in the learning programme matrix for black people as a percentage of the leviable amount.

This is the first major change in the B-BBEE Scorecard, having lost weighting points and now having a lower compliance target.

Weighting points8 → 6

Compliance target6% → 3.5%

2. Skills development expenditure on bursaries for black students at higher education institutions.

This is a newly added element to the scorecard.

Weighting points4

Compliance target2.5%

3. Expenditure on learning programmes for black employees with disabilities as a percentage of the leviable amount.

No changes here – the weighting points and compliance targets remain the same.

At Skills College, disabled solutions are our primary focus. With a high points weighting and a low compliance target, along with the opportunity to help one of the most marginalised groups in South Africa, our bespoke disabled programmes are the ideal skills development solution for companies.

Weighting points4

Compliance target0.3%

4. Number of black people in learnerships, apprenticeships, and internships as a percentage of total employees.

The weighting points and compliance targets have increased for this element, as follows:

Weighting points4 → 6

Compliance target2.5% → 5%

5. Number of black unemployed people participating in training specified in the learning programme matrix as a percentage of black employees.

This element has been completely removed from the Scorecard and is therefore no longer applicable to companies’ B-BBEE ratings.

Weighting points

Nil

Compliance target

Nil

6. Bonus points: The number of black people absorbed by the measured and industry entity at the end of the internship, learnership, and apprenticeship programmes.

The points weighting and compliance targets of the bonus points haven’t changed but it has been clarified that the 40% minimum threshold to maintain a BEE level cannot include bonus points.

Weighting points5

Compliance target100%

How these changes affect your business

As the weighting points and compliance targets have changed on most of the Scorecard’s elements, it’s important to consult with a professional as soon as possible to ensure your company maintains its rating. If you don’t, you may find your company losing a BEE level.

How Skills College can help

Businesses have until 1 November 2019 to ensure their skills development roadmaps align with the changes to the Codes. Luckily, with these new changes we have developed new solutions to assist businesses to make the most of their skills development budgets and to help disadvantaged individuals thrive.

We have great bursary solutions for the newly added element which can accommodate employee assistance programme targets. We are also able to start these programmes at any time of the year, which means you can get a jumpstart on fulfilling your compliance targets for the new element right now.

In addition, our programmes’ absorption now leads to permanent employment and our solutions can guarantee the maximum five absorption points.

Get in touch with us at Skills College today to find out what else we can do to help you adjust to the new Codes and to ensure you’re ready for the upcoming changes.

ABOUT US

We provide quality training to equip, empower, and uplift the South African workforce.
By utilising state of the art machinery and professional facilities, Skills College provides practical training for a variety of employable skills and expertise, and learners are trained by professional and highly skilled artisan